Saskatchewan police take down Western Canada drug trafficking ring

Police in Saskatchewan believe they’ve broken up a major drug trafficking ring in Western Canada.

In a media release Friday, the RCMP said members of the Federal Serious and Organized Crime (FSOC) Saskatchewan unit and officers from the Regina Police Service launched an interprovincial drug trafficking investigation on March 30, 2022.

After more than a year of investigation, police executed six search warrants on May 11 and May 12 of this year in Weyburn, Moose Jaw, Vancouver and Burnaby, B.C. Police said eight people were arrested and 54 Criminal Code and Controlled Drugs and Substances Act charges were filed.

Police said they seized around 3.36 kilograms of MDMA, 8.95 kg of cocaine and 28.17 kg of methamphetamine. The release said tests on the cocaine showed purity levels as high as 97 per cent.

Four people from Moose Jaw, two people from Burnaby, one person from Weyburn and one person from Toronto were charged. They face charges including trafficking, possession for the purpose of trafficking, possession of property obtained by crime over $5,000 and several others.

“This investigation has demonstrated the presence of illicit drugs in small towns and rural areas – it is not strictly a big-city issue,” Insp. Andrew Farquhar, the officer in charge of the FSOC in Saskatchewan, said in the release.

“When we look at the impact of drug trafficking in our communities, there is violence and property crime. We know the abuse of drugs fuels deadly addictions which ruin the lives of Canadians every day – this is evident in the information we have released about fatal overdoses in our rural Saskatchewan communities. Our goal is to prevent illicit drugs from entering our communities in the first place.”

“Bringing this investigation to a successful conclusion has not only disrupted criminal activity at multiple levels, but has also created a significant hole in the pockets of local, national and international crime groups,” added Supt. Trent Stevely of the RPS’s Investigative Services Division. “This seizure by police means these illicit drugs will never be on our streets in Saskatchewan, victimizing our communities.”

Anyone with information about drug trafficking in their area is asked to call their local detachment by calling 310-RCMP or Crime Stoppers at 1‐800‐222‐8477.